Whispers
by PhoenixO'Neil09
Summary: Whispers all around them of what they are to each other, but it's their story to tell. What will become of them?
1. To Stop the Whispers

"Great show tonight Chris!" One of the stage hands spoke up as Chris was heading out.

"Yeah thanks…hey you haven't happened to see Stephanie around have you?"

"Last I knew she was in her office down the hall there, 4th door to the left. I haven't seen her since earlier when Hunter went screaming out of there before the show began."

"Yeah I heard about that, figured I'd check in on an old friend, this divorce thing is a nasty business especially when you work together. I'm just glad her girls weren't around to see that. Thanks for your help. See ya next week." Chris said before heading down the hall towards the office of one Stephanie McMahon.

When it came to the friendship of Chris and Stephanie there were always whispers, of things that might have possibly been going on behind closed doors. But that was no one's business but their own, the feelings of love and cherishment were something that would not be passed around. Let them talk, what did he care…

Chris finally came up to the door and knocked three times…

"Come in…" a soft voice spoke from the other side.

He took a deep breath and slowly turned the door knob and walked in, and sure as always Stephanie sat behind her desk, her nose buried in some form of paperwork like always, routine…that was Steph to a 'T'.

"Steph"

"Oh hey Chris, come on it, have a seat…I am almost finished…"

"I heard what happened between you and Paul, are you ok?" Chris said just casually walking up to her desk. Steph looked up from over top her glasses with a smile on her face.

"Same shit different week…his routine never changes, he's still convinced that I'm going to let him see the girls, but after his little outburst a few weeks back and this week, he'll be lucky to see them at the shows…besides…"

"They aren't his to see."

"Exactly."

Chris let out a laugh and went over to the other side of her desk and pulled her up from her seat and sat down pulling her onto his lap.

"So where are my girls?"

"Mom has them tonight, using them as a political ploy probably, but it's alright they enjoy helping Grandma Linda"

"Oh so that means that I've got you all to myself, and with the divorce finally finalized between you and the Big Schnauzer, that means no strings attached and everything will finally start falling into place…for you…for me…for the girls" Chris said with a smirk on his face place kisses just under Steph's jaw line. Steph though was still trying to work with all this going on "Stephanie, don't make me do it…"

"So what dad can yell at me again for once again not having my work complete…Christopher Keith Irvine, you know I have a job to do" She said while playfully trying to push him away from her, but she couldn't help but laugh a bit, Chris brought out this side of her.

"Oh we are using all three names now are we…well Ms. Stephanie Marie McMahon, I as the father of your beautiful children and your future husband will go up to one Vincent Kennedy McMahon and tell him that even though we aren't getting married for another two weeks, that you desperately need some serious time off so I can have my way with you over and over until you can't stand it anymore and probably get sick of me and throw me aside…"

That caught Steph's attention, she finally put her pen down and curled up in Chris' lap and gives him a kiss. "Chris I will never ever get sick of you, I just wish we did things differently, first with Jessica and now with Hunter…I'm amazed she didn't rat us out sooner…"

"Jessica is just bitter that I realized after all these years that all those whispers about us were more than just that, you and I Steph…we belong together…It's no longer careless whispers, it's cold hard fact…and in two weeks when you become Mrs. Stephanie Irvine…"

"McMahon-Irvine"

"I don't care if you hyphenate it or not, as long as we are finally together and can walk into this place with our girls and look every single person dead in the eyes and tell them they don't need to speak at a whisper anymore. I love you and nothing that happened in the past is ever going to change that. Neither one of our former significant others were exactly angels either, but Ash is going to be coming around to play with his sisters a lot and I'm good with what we've got and I'll be even happier with what is ahead of us."

Stephanie had a tear in her eye from the words that just flowed with such ease, "Mr. Jericho you have a lyrical way of cutting through the bullshit"

"And you have a unique way with the English language, Miss McMahon. Can we get out of here and get back to the hotel and celebrate the proper way?"

Stephanie got a mischievous smile on her face just then and readjusted herself in the seat so she would straddle her fiancé's hips, this of course caught Chris a bit off guard but then again this is what he loved most about Steph, she was an impetuous woman that kept him on his toes.

"I love you Chris and I can't wait for 2 more weeks to be your wife, I can't take the whispers anymore…Let's take the private jet…"

"But Steph you hate flying…" He got out before she covered his lips with a kiss.

"Let me finish…Let's take the jet to Lake Tahoe, I'll call my mom, we'll get the girls and we'll have our own private ceremony. Then I will be Mrs. Stephanie Irvine."

"What happened to McMahon-Irvine?"

"I've been McMahon-dash-something long enough. I'll always be a McMahon but I want to be yours, truly completely and forever."

Chris sat back and pondered for a little while, "Tahoe…seriously?"

Steph nodded with a large smile on her face, Chris then knew it was impossible to say no to that beautiful face.

"It's insane but if that is what you want…"

"It is"

"Let's do it then."

Steph squealed in delight and gave Chris a rather heated kiss which he gladly returned, all he wanted was to see Stephanie happy and if he can do this for her…this one little thing…then so be it. After all they were still going to have the huge ceremony for all their friends and family in two weeks anyways.

Things were starting to really heat up when a knock came to the door and it opened before they could answer it. They both looked back in surprise to see Vince standing there.

"Steph, Chris…sorry to barge in when…well…"

"Daddy…"

"I just wanted to see if we had an answer on the plane situation?"

Chris almost choked when Vince said this…he was in on this the whole time???

"Chris are you ok?"

"Yeah, uhh, I just didn't know your dad knew about us."

"Chris, I may be old, but I'm not stupid. I'm happy for you both…now am I going to have to call your mother Steph and your father Chris and get them to Lake Tahoe?" That's Vince, straight to the point.

"Make the call Vince"

"You got it and Chris, call me dad…son. Be there in 2 hours…."

And with that Vince left closing the door behind them and Steph seemed to be in a fit of laughter and Chris just sat there shocked.

"You planned this all out didn't you?"

"Well, kinda…you know me I never do anything on a whim, most of the time. Come on we got a plane to catch"

Steph got up off his lap and started gathering up her paperwork but before she got too deep Chris got up and picked Steph up and started walking over to the leather couch.

"Chris! What are you doing?"

"Well dad said we got two hours…I'm going to make the best of it"


	2. Behind the Whispers

**I do not own any of these characters…if I did I'd be in VKM's shoes and the damn affair storyline would of gone through in 2003…ENJOY!!!**

Chapter 2: The Story behind the Whispers….

Ok yeah, so the whispers about her and Chris being more than 'Just Friends' were true. To hell with everyone else though right? She was a McMahon and she carried herself like one in every way. When it came to matter with the WWE, she was completely in business mode, when the show was done, the guys had left for their hotel or the next city and she made her way to her bus where usually the girls were there waiting for her that's when business began and her heart was not ice cold. Not that it ever was.

The whole thing between her and Chris started off innocent enough. They were friends, that started when the whole 'Business Partner' storyline came around, a storyline that could've and should've gone so much further.

'Shoulda, coulda, woulda…' Steph thought to herself…

But Paul wouldn't allow it. Stephanie was his girl and when the idea was pitched for an affair storyline he raised so much hell that they just gave up on the whole idea, and then Stephanie decided to take time away from TV…working from the office. Every time Chris had to come to Titan for a meeting or something, he would appear at her office door. 2002 was the start of their friendship, and nothing more, they'd have lunch, call each other with stupid stories of their day…when Steph returned to TV later that year, after some serious convincing on Chris' part of course and a none too happy Hunter cause that means he'd have to share her again with the world their friendship became even stronger.

When Hunter decided he wanted to go out with the 'boys' Chris would hang back at the hotel with Steph and they'd watch old movies and gorge themselves on junk food. Even though Chris was on Raw and Steph was the GM of Smackdown at the time they would both make time for each other where in Hunter refused.

The friendship kept on growing and it stayed that way, Chris had Jessica and Steph had Hunter. Then 2003 hit, and then all of a sudden things started to happen. Jessica was pregnant with their first child, Ash. And then Hunter in all his jealous wisdom decided to try something, he proposed to Steph in which she accepted.

"_What do you mean Paul proposed?" Chris said over the phone. _

"_Exactly what it sounds like Chris…I mean it wasn't the most romantic of times, he and I just got done with a huge fight, but just, out of the clear blue he asked me to marry him. He had the ring with him and everything"_

"_I can't believe this…so you are actually going to marry him?"_

"_What else are my options Jericho? You? Oh, wait I'm sorry, you're married with a kid on the way! I love him and yes I'm going to marry him, in fact we've set a date in October and everyone in the WWE is invited…" Stephanie continued on…what she didn't know was Chris was almost heartbroken on the other side of that phone conversation._

Steph did indeed go on to marry Paul and Chris was there, even though it was a month after his son was born, he had to be there, he was Steph's best friend after all.

After their honeymoon, Steph stayed off TV again, Paul's choice though that's not how some viewed it, Stephanie tried to convince people that her not being at shows all the time was for the best and that she was extremely busy. Her and Chris were still friends though not as strong as they were before she and HHH got married. Everytime Chris was hanging around it was a volatile situation, the look on Paul's face seemed like he was ready to beat Chris into a bloody pulp until there was nothing left. So Chris started to keep his distance. All he wanted was to see Stephanie happy, and it seemed, he assumed, that she really truly was happy to be with Paul and make occasional appearances on TV.

Then, 2005 rolled around, and Chris was burnt out. He was wrestling for 15 years after all, and though he loved working for WWE and never considered going anywhere else, being on the road all the time was wearing thin on him and his marriage and even on Ash. And perhaps, the fact that his friendship with Steph was barely that anymore…he wanted more out of life.

_A knock on the door gained Stephanie's attention_

"_Come in" she said not even looking from her work_

"…_Hey there stranger" a familiar voice rang from the door._

"_CHRIS! Oh my God what are you doing here? Did dad get you to resign? Oh I hope so, I hate to think what this place would be like without the great Chris Jericho around" during all this she damn near leaped out of her chair went right over to him and gave him a hug like they hadn't seen each other in years. Chris however barely returned the hug and the smile he wore was one that wasn't of sadness really but it wasn't happiness either._

"_Steph, calm down please. I just got done talking to Vince, I've decided I need to take time off. August 22__nd__ is my last show."_

"_WHAT?!?! No, Chris you can't leave, what about the fans and me, I am your best friend after all" Steph said with a look of complete surprise._

"_Are you really Steph?" Chris couldn't take it anymore "Cause it seems like ever since you married Paul, you are happy being the happy housewife rather than caring about anyone else. I don't hear from you like I use to, our late night after show get together's don't even happen anymore. I know you are happily married to Paul, but Steph, when you aren't with him…"_

"_What? That he sleeps around on me with ring rats? Yeah Chris I know about that. But I can't give up on this marriage, we're trying to have a baby now and I'm happy cause he comes home to me. I don't have anyone else, and since he's scared you off..."_

"_He's never scared me off; I kept my distance to save you from fighting with him about what people have been saying all these years about our friendship. But you know what I'm gone, I'm done with wrestling for probably will be a long long while and I thought I'd be a good friend to let you know first that I was leaving. But hey, you wanna play bitch then fine…" Chris turned to leave and he knew Steph was crying…God he didn't want to do that to her. So he stopped and turned around and walked back up to her a calmly looked at her cause he needed to confess something… _

"_One more thing Steph, for years, even before our feud and our partnership, I have had this crush on you, and that crush with our friendship has turned into love. I love you Stephanie. You have always had me through it all… even though I'm married to Jessica and have Ash. You deserve so much more than what Paul could ever and will ever give you. And yeah I know how complicated this sounds but if you were to ever show up at my doorstep I'd move heaven and earth to be with you."_

_Stephanie's expression of tears and sadness went to that of pure shock with tears. Chris stood there waiting on a response of some type…and it came…in the form of a slap. _

"_HOW DARE YOU!!! You come in here, tell me you are leaving and in a last ditch effort to get me to leave my husband, you tell me you love me???? WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM CHRIS???? You are a married man, with a SON who needs you. And you tell me that through all that, that you have harbored feelings for me for more than 3 years? I love you but not in that way, that part belongs to Hunter and that happened when I married him. You know what…get the hell out of my office."_

"_Steph…"_

"_OUT!!! Enjoy your life Chris…"_

And Chris once again with his heart broken left her office. And on August 22nd he lost to Cena in a "Your fired" match, and left for Florida to be what he should've been in the first place.

And for a month and a half, it was pure hell, he found out Jessica was cheating on him though he never told her. Besides being a dad to Ash there was nothing in his life, in fact he had moved into the pool house, Jessica never argued cause she just didn't care about their marriage. He kept himself occupied with other things, his music, TV, a book he just started writing out of the blue and his radio show.

Then one night, Jessica had taken Ash to see her parents in Minnesota, so he had the main house all to himself, he was just sitting there watching TV, when all of a sudden his phone rang.

"_Hello?" Chris answered not even checking the caller ID._

"…_Hey there stranger" came a familiar voice._

"…_Hey yourself"_

"_I hope I'm not disturbing anything…"_

"_No you're not, just kickin back in a big empty house, watching some TV and about to finish my first beer of the night. Probably my only beer for the night. So…what do I owe the pleasure of your call tonight?" Chris said as he sat up. He waited for an answer only for there to be silence…and what seemed to be soft sobs on the other end of the line. "Steph? You still there?"_

"_Yeah, I'm sorry Chris, I just….I didn't know who else to call, I called you rather instinctively actually, in fact…God I can't believe this…I'm not that far away from you right now."_

"_Wait…you're in Tampa?"_

"_Yeah, I ummm…I've had a really rough couple of days Chris, I am on complete instinct here…"_

"_Steph how far away are you?"_

"…_.Two blocks"_

"…_I'll see you in a few minutes…"_

"_Are you sure? I mean after everything…"_

"_Steph…"_

"_See you in a few minutes…"_

_And indeed not even 5 minutes later, Steph pulled up in a rental, which means she flew down to Tampa, and Chris knew whatever happened was serious cause Stephanie never flies, that's why she got the tour bus. She was a firm believe that if God intended for us to fly he would of indeed given us wings. _

_Chris stood out on his front porch waiting for her and when she pulled up, the best word to describe her was hell. She looked like she had been through a war and Chris knew from how timid she seemed that Paul had to do with every bit of it. Though, through all of that he still saw the beauty that was Steph. His Steph…his best friend…his friend…_

_As soon as she got out of the car she looked at Chris…God how the hell could she have been so stupid? His eyes have had that same look all these years, but there was something different behind them. She couldn't quite pin point it but it wavered somewhere between fear, nervousness, and uncertainty. Looks that she thought she'd never see in the eyes of Her Chris…her best friend…her friend…_

_Steph walked up to him and onto his porch. She was withdrawn, arms folded in front of her protecting herself. _

"_You look like…"_

"_Hell… I know, I've been up for 48 hours, I haven't been able to sleep, I've barely eaten…What am I doing here Chris? Why did I fly on a plane from God I can't even remember where to here…"_

_Chris didn't waste any time pulling Steph into him for a very much needed hug, she needed it but so did he. He needed a friend too. His marriage was falling apart all around him, and everyday he thought about calling up Steph, but he thought she was too happy and after his last confession to her he thought it was a lost cause._

"_Talk to me Princess" Chris said still hugging her, 'God help me this feels so right' _

"_Hunter and I got into this huge fight, he just returned to TV this week and he's been the biggest asshole for weeks working into this big return and this stupid plan to work Flair. I told him, it should have been you in that spot if you had renewed your contract and he hated that so much. He told me that he is all but convinced that you and I were really having an affair cause of how much I have faith in your talents & abilities as a wrestler. I don't know why he hates you, but I told him that I knew about him sleeping around on me even after we got married. I've never cheated on him Chris, NEVER, and he acted like there was nothing wrong with what he did. I wanted to try and have a family, a real family but after that…I just felt like it was never going to happen. I don't know if I even want to be with him anymore, he has changed so much since we started dating. He walks around like he owns the place…"_

_During this time Chris had walked her into the house and into the living room and sat her down on his couch. Steph was a wreck and a half, she couldn't stop herself from crying, her eyes were red, her nose was red…the rest was pale._

"_Where's Jessica and Ash? Aren't they here?"_

"_No, Jess took him up to see her family…"_

"_And you stayed behind? I'm not keeping you from anything am I?"_

"_No Steph, you're not, believe me, Jess and I are actually…not really together. I came home and things between her and I got worse, found out she hasn't been loyal to me while I've been gone. She hasn't been since shortly after Ash was born, I've actually been living out in the pool house. But I figured since she's not home, I have free roam of the house my time and effort went into buying. Sorry, you're walking into a mess around here…"_

"_Maybe I should go…"_

"_No please you need someone and I need someone too…please…don't…"_

_Steph was amazed, she never seen Chris broken down as much as she was, for the first time ever they truly needed one another. They were both lost in this world. Nothing more than whispers to the world as they sat on the couch, just holding on to one another._

"_Chris…" Steph whispered._

"_Yeah Steph?" he whispered back_

"_Do you remember what you said to me before you left?"_

"_I'll never forget it."_

"_Do you still?"_

"_I've never stopped…"_

"_Chris…"_

"_Yeah Steph?"_

"_I've missed you…I regretted how it all went down between us, you have always been honest with me, even when it has come to Hunter, but I stupidly didn't want to listen. As soon as you left it didn't get better, I couldn't even talk to the guys without him playing the jealous husband. But it was a double standard, all the time with him. He didn't love me, he loved the power. You love me, you're my friend …you're my best friend and the only guy that will ever get me. And I love you. I don't want to hide from that fact anymore. I don't want to cry anymore."_

_Chris pulled away from her for a moment. Did she really just admit that to him? But wait…_

"_Steph, no don't confuse love friendship wise to my type of love for you."_

"_No, not at all, after you had left, I sat down behind my desk, thinking that I would just go back to work. And I did for a second. And then it hit me, like a ton of bricks, at first it was only a single tear. It was so weird. I touched my face and I realized why, and I couldn't fight it anymore. I balled my eyes out, I have never done that. It wasn't the thought of losing you as a colleague, it was just losing you. I am so sorry that I slapped you, I am so sorry that I didn't see it."_

"_Then why didn't you come after me, why wait until things were falling apart between you and Paul for you to show up here. Pretty God damn convenient of you Stephanie to just waltz to me after you just happen to get into a fight with Paul."_

_Chris stood up from the couch and stormed away into the kitchen. But Steph was not going to let him get away again._

"_I needed to know if my love for Paul was real, and it's not…It's been you, always you all along. I flew down here, COACH mind you, I did it so aimlessly I wasn't even thinking about seeing you but you were on my mind. That has to tell you something…"_

"_It tells me I'm that fallback guy…I don't want that. I don't need that…I…Steph???"_

_Chris watched her eyes roll back into the back of her head and he moved just fast enough to catch her and keep her from hitting her head on the floor…or worse a counter that she seemed to directly aim for. 'Poor Girl' Chris thought, 'You really didn't eat or sleep…maybe you are telling the truth…but for now, rest'_

_Chris scooped her up and put her in the guest room. Once he did he realized something, the rings that Steph had worn religiously since the day her and Hunter got married were not on her hand. She had taken them off, but when? He watched her rest for a little while before making his way down the stairs into his living room. He saw Steph's purse and wondered…no he couldn't go through…ah to hell with it. He picked up her purse and carefully looking through…no rings, and he looked at her cell phone, which she never locked cause pushing extra buttons when she was in a rush meant less time to take care of business. He scrolled through her incoming calls and Hunter's name was there…several times, but they were all missed calls, her outgoing just read one name…Jericho…._

Then things progressed rather quickly…Steph was awake 10 hours later and Chris got her to eat. He told her after some thought and well he eventually confessed he did go through her purse that he believed every word.

Life has a funny way of proving that you made the right decisions because a few days later they gave in to the love they had both been feeling for each other. It made them feel so complete and whole. A monthlater, Steph found out something rather interesting…she was a month pregnant, due in late July. There was no way in hell this could be Paul's baby, but she kept it her secret for a while. When she made the announcement the dumb schmuck was happy. He thought it was his…but Steph knew better…and so did Chris. While Paul was away on business, Steph was with Chris.

Then, Jessica found out, she came out with claws out and blackmailed Steph and Chris into paying her more than she needed to keep their dirty little secret, on top of convincing the media that she was pregnant with twins and that they were Chris' when in truth they were from some random guy she decided to fuck, but Chris loved those girls just the same. Cheyenne and Sierra were born July 18th, Chris was there to pass off the image of doting husband. When Aurora was born 6 days later, Chris was there as "friendly" support, letting Paul think everything was alright. Paul never knew but Steph and Chris had taken care of the little details of making sure Paul never knew. They had to catch him…and he kept on doing the same stupid stuff that put Stephanie in the arms of his most hated enemy.

Once Chris got the chance, he rid himself of his baggage, but still made sure he supported Ash (who he had no doubt was his) and the girls even though they were never his. He divorced Jessica, moved into a new house close by and by the time 2008 rolled around Steph was pregnant again this time with Murphy who was also Chris'…Paul fucked so many ring rats he couldn't keep those straight with his own wife. He never touched Steph since 2006 and he was too STUPID to realize that. Stupid enough to get caught, by Chris himself with a video camera in a hotel bar bathroom….who indeed made his triumphant return to the WWE in November of 2007, right around the time Steph figured she was pregnant again.

Paul quickly settled a divorce with Steph…and then when it came time for the visitation of Aurora and Murphy, which by the time the divorce had been settled was 6 months old, the judge denied him visitation based on the outburst he had. No child should be subjected to that…little did he know the whole time that Chris was with Steph not only as moral support, but as fatherly support to his girls. But that was something that he didn't need to know…not yet…let them whisper…for now…

**A/N: What a back story right??? Sorry to tease you all…but this needed to be done. And it's over DOUBLE the size of the first chapter which I thought was just going to be a one-shot. Damn you all for convincing me otherwise. Cause this story is going to go beyond this as well.**

**You wanted a wedding….you got one…PLUS a whole lot more….Coming up in Chapter 3….**


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